Summerside apartment fire ruled accidental | CBC News
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A fire that broke out at an 18-unit apartment building in Summerside over the weekend has been ruled accidental.
The Summerside fire department responded to 14 Water St. at about 11:40 p.m. and all residents were safely evacuated.
On Monday, the P.E.I. Fire Marshals Office said its investigation into the fire was complete and determined the fire was caused by an electrical failure in a dishwasher.
Summerside Fire Chief Ron Enman said crews were on the site within minutes, with about 45 members present. He said initial reports indicated not everyone had evacuated the building and the unit had members check each floor.
“It was pretty chaotic there for a few minutes,” he said. “We had no idea how many were still inside but, as it turned out, there was quite a few.”
Enman said Summerside Police and multiple EMS units were also on the scene and Red Cross worked with the fire chaplain to get building residents to a hotel if needed. He said there were about 40 people in the building on the night of the fire.
The fire was declared out Sunday at about 1 a.m. and residents were permitted to enter one-by-one to grab belongings.
The fire was confined to one unit and neighbouring units did suffer some smoke damage, Enman said.
“Smoke detectors work.”